1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure and method of operations of dedicated telecommunications patching systems where telecommunications lines are selectively interconnected using patch cords. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for remotely accessing telecommunication patching systems, prior to physically visiting the telecommunications patching system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many businesses have dedicated telecommunication systems that enable computers, telephones, facsimile machines and the like to communicate with each other, through a private network, and with remote locations via a telecommunications service provider. In most buildings, the dedicated telecommunications system is hard wired using telecommunication cables that contain conductive wire. In such hard wired systems, dedicated wires are coupled to individual service ports throughout the building. The wires from the dedicated service ports extend through the walls of the building to a telecommunications closet or closets. The telecommunications lines from the interface hub of a main frame computer and the telecommunication lines from external telecommunication service providers are also terminated within the telecommunications closets.
A patching system is used to interconnect the various telecommunication lines within the telecommunications closet. In a telecommunications patching system, all of the telecommunication lines are terminated within the telecommunications closet in an organized manner. The organized terminations of the various lines are provided via the structure of the telecommunications closet. Within the telecommunications closet is typically located a mounting frame. On the mounting frame is connected a plurality of racks. The telecommunications lines terminate on the racks, as is explained below.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical prior art rack 10 is shown. The rack 10 retains a plurality of patch panels 12 that are mounted to the rack 10. On each of the patch panels 12 are located port assemblies 14. The port assemblies 14 each contain six RJ-45 telecommunication connector ports 16.
Each of the different telecommunication connector ports 16 is hard wired to one of the system""s telecommunications lines. Accordingly, each telecommunications line is terminated on a patch panel 12 in an organized manner. In small patch systems, all telecommunications lines may terminate on the patch panels of the same rack. In larger patch systems, multiple racks are used, wherein different telecommunications lines terminate on different racks.
In the shown embodiment of FIG. 1, the interconnections between the various telecommunications lines are made using patch cords 20. Both ends of each patch cord 20 are terminated with connectors 22, such as an RJ-45 telecommunication connector or a RJ-11 telecommunications connector. One end of the patch cord 20 is connected to the connector port 16 of a first telecommunications line and the opposite end of the cord is connected to the connector port 16 of a second telecommunications line. By selectively connecting the various lines of the patch cords 20, any combination of telecommunications lines can be interconnected.
In many businesses, employees are assigned their own computer network access number exchange so that the employee can interface with the company""s main frame computer or computer network. When an employee changes office locations, it is not desirable to provide that employee with new exchange numbers. Rather, to preserve consistency in communications, it is preferred that the exchanges of the telecommunication connection ports in the employee""s old office be transferred to the telecommunications ports in the employee""s new office. To accomplish this task, the patch cords in the telecommunication closet are rearranged so that the employee""s old exchanges are now received in his/her new office.
As employees, move, change positions, add lines and subtract lines, the patch cords in a typical telecommunications closet are rearranged quite often. The interconnections of the various patch cords in a telecommunications closet are often logged in either paper or computer based log. However, technicians often neglect to update the log each and every time a change is made. Inevitably, the log is less than 100% accurate and a technician has no way of reading where each of the patch cords begins and ends. Accordingly, each time a technician needs to change a patch cord, that technician manually traces that patch cord between an internal line and an external line. To preform a manual trace, the technician locates one end of a patch cord. The technician then manually follows the patch cord until he/she finds the opposite end of that patch cord. Once the two ends of the patch cord are located, the patch cord can be positively identified.
It takes a significant amount of time for a technician to manually trace a particular patch cord. Furthermore, manual tracing is not completely accurate and technicians often accidently go from one patch cord to another during a manual trace. Such errors result in misconnected telecommunication lines which must be later identified and corrected.
Furthermore, each rack on a telecommunications closet only contains a finite amount of room. Accordingly, each rack can hold only a predetermined maximum number of patch panels. The number of connector ports on the various patch panels is also limited. Often a technician does not know if there are any free connector ports in a telecommunications closet until the technician inspects the telecommunications closet. If no free connector ports are available, a technician may have to add a new patch panel to one of the racks in the telecommunications closet. If there is no room for additional patch panels, a new rack may have to be added to the telecommunications closet.
As can be ascertained, a technician often does not know how complicated a task will be in a telecommunication closet until the technician inspects that telecommunications closet and determines the status of that telecommunications closet. Unfortunately, a technician cannot currently inspect a telecommunications closet until such a time that he/she arrives at that telecommunications closet. Accordingly, the unknown status of different telecommunications closets makes it difficult for technicians to generate and keep an accurate work schedule.
Furthermore, technicians are typically given work orders that instruct them as to which patch cords in a telecommunications closet are to be rearranged, removed or added. The records for a telecommunication closets may not be accurately kept. In a telecommunications closet, there are often deadjumpers that are connected to the telecommunications rack but serve no purpose. Without accurate records, a technician cannot tell if a patch cord is active or dead. Accordingly, a technician may add new patch panels to the telecommunication closet when such additions are not necessary.
A need therefore exists in the field of telecommunication patching closets for a system and method of remotely ascertaining the status of a telecommunications closet, prior to the arrival of a technician.
The present invention is a system and method for ascertaining the status of a telecommunications patching system and making that status communicable to a remote location. The system includes a plurality of tracing interface modules that attach to the patch panels in a telecommunications closet. Each of the patch panels in a telecommunications closet contains a plurality of connector ports that receive the terminated ends of patch cords. The tracing interface modules mount to the patch panels and provide a sensor for each of the connector ports. The sensor detects whenever a patch cord is connected to, or removed from, a connector port. Accordingly, by connecting a computer controller to the various sensors in each rack, the computer controller can monitor all changes to the patch cord interconnections within that rack. The computer controllers can be joined together in a network. The network monitors the status of all the connector ports on all the racks. Accordingly, the data on the network contains the full status of the telecommunications closet.
The network within the telecommunications closet can be accessed via a private and/or public telecommunications network. Accordingly, the network within the telecommunications closet can be accessed, via a modem from a remote computer. Preferably, the network within the telecommunications closet is coded with a Simple Network Management Protocol, the current standard internet protocol. This enables direct access of the network via the internet.
By ascertaining the status of a telecommunications closet before traveling to that telecommunications closet, a technician can predetermine the amount of work that needs to be done to complete a scheduled task. This eliminates the time previously required to manually determine the status of a telecommunications closet on site. Furthermore, paperless work order instruction can be fed directly to the telecommunications closet for a technician to read on-site.